Curated OER
Evidence of Photosynthesis
Hands on science is the way to go! Learners conduct a lab experiment to help them explain how plants make food through photosynthesis. They test for the presence of starch in leaves using iodine solution and identify the basic things...
LABScI
Photosynthesis: How Do Plants Get Energy?
Examine the mechanism of photosynthesis through different light scenarios. Pupils vary the amount and type of light exposure on plant leaves in the fifth lesson plan in a 12-part series. Through observation, they determine the rate of...
Curated OER
Plankton in the Air
Here is a lab activity adequate for use with any full lesson on environmental factors that shape animal adaptations or marine animal characteristics. Pupils will discuss the role plankton plays in the environment and filter-feeding...
Science Matters
Photosynthesis-Cellular Respiration Cycle
The balance of nature can be a wondrous thing! With the 19th lesson of the 21-part series on systems, learners explore the cycle of photosynthesis and cellular respiration using a lab-based activity. Groups set up different test tubes...
Curated OER
Terrestrial Sequestration- Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration
Students examine the differences between cellular respiration and photosynthesis. In this cellular processes lesson students complete a group lab activity to see how climate change affects their lives.
Curated OER
Teaching about the Effect of Photosynthesis and
High schoolers demonstrate the effects of photosynthesis and respiration. They decide which variables to analyze in a microcosm study. They produce a written paper, oral presentation, poster, or multi-media presentation
Chicago Botanic Garden
Are All Plants Created Equal?
Photosynthesis requires energy and produces food, and cellular respiration produces energy and requires food. An interesting lesson analyzes the factors that affect the rates of photosynthesis and respiration. Classes spend one day...
Sunlight Cal-Tech
Chromatography of Plant Pigments
Through a hands-on activity, an acetone-spinach solution is pre-made and learners use this solution to separate the pigments found in spinach using chromatography. The comprehensive resource includes an analysis and conclusion questions.
Polar Trec
Can Carbon Dioxide Act Like a Greenhouse Gas?
Ninety-seven percent of scientists who study climate agree that human activity is warming the planet. Learners explore carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, a gas causing this warming, through a hands-on experiment. Once complete, they...
Science Matters
Celery Lab
See firsthand the work plants do to move nutrients through their systems with a lesson that demonstrates the role of the xylem and phloem in plants. Young scientists observe celery move colored water through its stem to the leaves and...
Curated OER
Photosynthesis
Students conduct a variety of experiments on photosynthesis. In this biology lesson, students identify the factors required for the process to occur. They perform computerized experiments to test the amount of oxygen produced when plants...
Curated OER
Photosynthesis: Intake of Carbon Dioxide - Production of Oxygen
High schoolers, after a long-term observation of photosynthesis with aquatic plants, assess the benefits of photosynthesis towards all living organisms. They explain in their own words the two cycles within photosynthesis. Guided...
Curated OER
Everybody Needs a Little Sunshine
Three activities introduce upper elementary ecologists to photosynthesis and food webs. In the first, an experiment is set up to determine how plants respond to different types of light. In the second, they connect organism cards with...
Curated OER
Ecology of the Savanna-Forest Boundaries in Central Brazil
Students explore photosynthesis. In this photosynthesis instructional activity, students label parts of photosynthesis and take notes. Students conduct experiments on leaves, make observations and record their findings.
Curated OER
Explain Plant Chemical Processes
Students discover plant chemical processes through three lab activities. Overheads, data sheets, and teaching procedures provided for the unit covering photosynthesis, respiration, and transpiration.
Curated OER
Photosynthetic Pictures--Are Worth More Than a Thousand Words
Students observe and examine how carbon dioxide, water, and light produce glucose/starch through a process called photosynthesis.
Curated OER
Candy Chemosynthesis
Students explain chemosynthesis and photosynthesis using candy. In this chemosynthesis lesson, students work cooperatively to create a visual explanation of the chemical equations of photosynthesis and chemosynthesis.
Curated OER
Owls: Top of a Food Chain
Although written for middle schoolers, there is no reason that a 3rd, 4th, or 5th grader could not also learn about food chains through the dissection of owl pellets. After you introduce the topic, learners complete an owl research...
Curated OER
Photosynthesis: Light-dependent and Calvin cycle
Students recognize the concepts of the light-dependent and the Calvin cycles. They draw diagrams of the light-dependent reaction and the Calvin cycle. In addition, they investigate the effects of light on carbohydrate content in leaves.
Curated OER
It's Okay to Exhale: Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration
Pupils will observe the differences between photosynthesis and cellular respiration. Then they observe the links due to climate changes and relate how climate change affects their lives.
Curated OER
Mussel Your Way Through Photosynthesis
Students, using zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha), elodea and an indicator dye, observe and record the role of light in photosynthesis. They consider plant production of carbon dioxide and the use of live materials in biological...
Curated OER
Glucose Factory
Fourth graders determine, through laboratory activity, the presence or absence of glucose in a variety of plant leaves and stems. They work in groups and perform a three part laboratory which shows them how plants convert sunlighht to food.
Curated OER
Chloroplasts
Students study chloroplasts, their structure and evolution. In this photosynthesis lesson students experiment with polarized light and the production of chlorophyll.
Nuffield Foundation
Measuring the Rate of Metabolism
Plant respiration can be a difficult concept for young biologists to grasp; with a hands-on lab, learners can collect and graph data, then calculate the metabolism rate for the plants they studied. If you do not have a respirometer,...